


The Flaky Pastry Technique

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 01:59:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12098229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: A woman in line at the coffee shop is hitting on Mulder, the advances clearly unwelcome, Scully cuts in in a funny and flirty way





	The Flaky Pastry Technique

Mulder had gone ahead. She hadn’t had coffee for three hours and felt every one of those 10800 seconds. The Tooms case report had taken longer than she’d expected. She had tried to soften the accusations around Colton’s involvement but after rewriting it several times, her anger at his bone-headed and boorish behaviour swelled and she simply wrote:  
Agent Tom Colton acted rashly in his decision to call off the stakeout. His refusal to listen to Agent Mulder’s or my own theories, evidence and suggestions, put lives in danger. His manner was unhelpful, obstructive even, and it is my view that his narrow field of vision in this case delayed its conclusion and could have resulted in serious injury to me, or even worse.  
She’d been having nightmares. That Mulder didn’t get there in time. That Tooms had got his quota and her mother would be burying a daughter. It made her shudder, the danger that Colton and his territorial Alpha male stunt had delivered. It made her shudder to think of her mother’s grief. It made her question her career choice, but only for a second. She had found a steady ally in Mulder, his intensity, when focused, was proving to be a surprising and welcome guide through this still strange landscape of the X Files. Being asked to spy on her partner had left a bad taste in her mouth, but since their faltering start she and Mulder had found some kind of groove. And understanding each other’s tastes in coffee was a big part of that groove.  
She pushed open the door to the coffee shop. The place was always busy. She briefly remembered when she’d sat in the window seats with Jack, blowing the steam off their too hot coffees and sharing an apple Danish. It seemed so long ago. He’d been a big part of her life for such a short time but she knew without a doubt that his impression on her life would be nowhere near as profound as Mulder’s would be. Had already been.  
Mulder was placing the order. He was pointing to something in the cool cabinet, probably one of those slices that had cholesterol as its main ingredient. The barista was smiling at him – she knew them both by name, but it was the woman next to him that caught her eye. She was well-dressed in a stylish skirt suit, long slim legs, silk blouse, flowing blonde hair. She was stunning. And she was leaning so close to him that their arms were brushing.  
Scully wondered whether he knew her. He was smiling, but the more she looked, the more she realised it was his fake smile, the one he wore for Blevins, for Skinner, for the woman in accounts who hand-delivered his signed 302s. She moved a little closer and listened.  
“You’d like this one, it’s very soft inside, creamy even. But the outside is hard and crusty. It’s the perfect balance.”  
He nodded. “I’m a creature of habit. The custard slice with flaked almonds. The nuts make it healthier. My partner likes that.”  
“FBI then? You’re all pretty easy to spot. Where is he?” The woman flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked around. Mulder reached for the coffees, not following her gaze.  
“She’s on her way.”  
The woman sucked in a breath. “They allow male-female partnerships? That must be hard.”  
Scully bit her lip as the woman purred.  
Mulder looked down at her. “We work well together. We complement each other. She’s the best partner I’ve had.”  
The flush on Scully’s cheeks hit hard. And she knew it was time to move.  
“Really? Perhaps your expectations are too low, Mr…?”  
Mulder took the tray and tucked the paper bag containing his slice in between the coffees.  
“Mulder,” Scully said, taking the bag. “Let me get that.”  
The woman stood her ground.  
Scully opened the bag and licked her lips. “I love this one. It’s our favourite, isn’t it? It’s the one we always use to upset the suspects.”  
Mulder’s lips quivered into a smile. A real one. He turned back to the woman, who had straightened her shoulders.  
“Yes, you see, my partner here sits at the desk and nibbles the ends of the pastry whilst I’m interrogating and she lets it flake all down her front and then I walk over to her and rub the flakes off. It’s the standard procedure for distracting the suspect and usually we get them to deviate from their story and it all pretty much unravels from there.”  
Rolling her lips together, Scully nodded at the woman. “Our last suspect, we were certain he had ripped the livers from four people and eaten them.” She paused a beat and the woman blanched. “But getting him to confess was proving difficult so we used this flaky pastry technique.”   
The woman stepped back and held a hand to her mouth. “Livers?”  
“He nested in bile,” Scully added. “He could stretch and flatten his body like rodent.” She opened the bag and breathed in the sweet aroma of the pastry. “It was fascinating, really.”  
“But my partner here had him salivating over her in no time,” Mulder added, draping his arm over Scully’s shoulders. “And then she put him in an arm lock and he confessed his deepest, darkest sins. And believe me, you wouldn’t want to hear those.” He beamed and took a swig of his coffee. “It’s very unsettling if you’re of a delicate disposition.”  
Once she’d stopped giggling, Scully drained the last of her coffee and put the cup in the bin just as Mulder threw the screwed up bag across the desk. Flakes of pastry showered her.  
“Mulder!”  
He waggled his eyebrows and grinned at her. “Do I get to rub the flakes off, Scully?”  
“Only if I get to put you in an arm lock to get your deepest, darkest confessions out of you,” she said, smiling back.  
“They’re very unsettling.”  
She picked up the bag and dropped it in the bin. “I’ve no doubt, Mulder. But it’s okay, I’m not of a delicate disposition, Mulder.”


End file.
